1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods that are used to facilitate enhanced services related to pre-paid telephone calling cards.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is well known that pre-paid telephone calling cards (hereinafter “pre-paid cards”) have become widely used to obtain telephone calling services such as long distance calling services, etc. For example, consumers can purchase pre-paid cards from retail stores and use the same to obtain access to telephone services to call friends and family all over the world. As such, many different kinds of pre-paid telephone calling cards are now available. Consumers can purchase pre-paid telephone calling cards having a variety of calling options (domestic calling options, international calling options, etc.) and a wide selection of pre-paid values. For example, consumers can purchase domestic-use calling cards that are charged with 100 domestic call units (i.e., a unit is typically equal to one telephone service minute, but may be associated with some other amount of time—e.g., 50 seconds, etc.).
The appeal of pre-paid cards to consumers is due in large part to the fact that pre-paid telephone calling cards often allow consumers to realize savings associated with making telephone calls. For example, pre-paid telephone calling cards often allow consumers to avoid the costs associated with using a conventional telephone calling card that is associated with a particular telephone line (e.g., an access call service charge that is added to other toll-call rates and charges). As a result of their appeal, many retailers have begun to offer and sell pre-paid cards. Since a relatively large selection of pre-paid telephone calling cards can be stocked and displayed without requiring significant retail floor space, retailers can enjoy maximized revenues relative to small sections of their leased or owned storefronts.
Despite the appeal of pre-paid cards to both users and retailers, such market acceptance has created serious problems for providers of pre-paid cards and related telephone services. In particular, providers of pre-paid cards have been forced to distinguish their products in order to effectively compete. To date, the only effective way to distinguish one's pre-paid cards has been to continuously lower telephone service rates to the point of extremely thin or negative margins. And, unfortunately, pre-paid cards that promise the “lowest” telephone service rates often are not sufficient to capture and retain pre-paid card customers.
Thus, there exists a need to provide systems and methods that will allow providers of pre-paid cards to offer enhanced services in relation to their pre-paid cards without requiring providers to lower their telephone service rates to unreasonable levels. To be viable, such systems and methods must allow users of pre-paid cards to easily take advantage of such enhanced services while, at the same time, using pre-paid cards to obtain conventional telephone calling services.